I Start My New Job Today

photos by Nick Gaswirth

Today, I start my new job. I hired myself to write full time from 10AM-6PM Mon-Fri until classes start again. With the amount of work I have to get done by February/March, it's  a necessary measure. But I'm excited since Steven and I have been asked to do some really cool things coming up. They're all due at the same time, but I guess when it rains awesomeness, it pours, right? 


Remember that concert I was telling you about back in November? Here's some pics of the Baby Birds singing numbers from VOTE! including Wicked's current Glinda, Katie Rose Clarke rocking out the revised "Mr. President." I can't tell you too much about how the song plays out in the show now (it's not in the beginning),  but if you want to know, you can come check out the production of the show here in Scotland later this Spring. (Auditions start TOMORROW!?!)


Steven and I have been working together for ten years this year-- across three continents. I think 2011 is going to be the best of those ten yet! Thanks for your continued support. 

Not a London Sunday

Hello from snowy Edinburgh. Supposed to be in London, but the snow delayed our plane so much, it didn't work out. Sad. Sophie and I were going to go to a flower market today. And Sara didn't even end up making it into London until 1:30AM.


But we had some good times on our trip. Including an outing to FabHatrix where I actually bought a hat. It looks like a fedora in the picture, but it's not. Sara, obviously did not buy the one she tried on. There was this really fabulous stressy FIT student in there going on and on about the stress of NYC. It made me feel really excited that I live in Scotland. 


I think I'm going to hit up Artisan Roast for the third day in row. It's my other favorite coffee shop in Edinburgh (next to Leo's Beanery, which is closed until January 14-- and the longer they're closed, the more I'm loving Artisan). They have dreamy beverages like white hot chocolate with lemongrass and rose and black pepper hot chocolate. Amazing. There's even a lavender one. I think it might be Steven Jamail's dream place. 

McC and I Make it to Tigerlily

McC and I have been dreaming about the Tigerlily Hotel since back in July when we cooked up this little trip of hers. Yesterday, on our smash-and-grab tour of Edinburgh, we finally made it there. While the place is already a little dated, we loved every minute of it. And you can't beat two entrees for ten pounds and two hours of good conversation. 

Today: Edinburgh farmer's market for hog sandwiches and haggis (She's gotta try it) and a flight to London! Tomorrow, I'll post more about our adventures.

fabhatrix and edinburgh

McC and I are off to Edinburgh this morning. I can't wait to show one of my oldest friends my favorite city! One of the places I'm dying to show her is this funky hat shop in Old Town, Fabhatrix. Iona and I had an excursion there a few weeks ago where I almost found the hat of my dreams.


This place literally has every kind of hat (handmade) you can think of. I wanted a lot of them. But I do have all this fluffy hair, which has always made wearing hats a bit impossible. I always think of the quote from You've Got Mail: 


"Once I read a story about a butterfly on the subway and today I saw one. It got on at 42nd and off at 59th where I assume it went to Bloomingdales to buy a hat, which will turn out to be a mistake - as almost all hats are."



But today, I'm feeling lucky. I could use a little luck these days. Let's see if my life-long quest to become a hat person can take one step closer to becoming true.

Sophie's at the Troubadour

photo by Sari Ember

Lovely Londoners- What are you doing tonight? I know what I'd be doing if I were in London. I'd be seeing the wonderful, adorable, ethereal, poet/singer extraordinaire, Sophie Ramsay, at the Troubadour. I was lucky enough to catch her practice sessions of her set while I was at Bamff over New Years, so I can say with certainty, you're in for a treat. 


Doors open at 8PM and tickets are only 7 pounds. So if you're in London, head on over to Old Brompton Road. (For the record, I'm intrigued by other performer Tinsel Mouse-- just for the name.) As it stands, I won't be in London until Saturday night. Who wants to hang out?? 


Check out some awesome Sophie here. 

positively fourth street

Late yesterday afternoon, my good friend Jon sent me an email that went a little something like this: "Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this your old corner/building?" With a link to photos similar to the one above. That is my old apartment. And my old favorite bodega. Burned down.


See those big windows. My room was right above that. I had a lot of good times in that apartment & almost everyone I know has spent the night at some point. There were 6 civilian injuries. I have no idea if my old room mates were among them. I do know it spread to my old floor. 


There's nothing like your apartment burning down for a sign you were supposed to leave New York. 

and puts apparel on my tattered loving

Sometimes, it seems like books are brought to me. Dropped into my lap for me to find at a specific moment. I bought my professor Don Paterson's new book Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets as a gift for a friend of a friend. Turns out, I bought the wrong one and so I decided to just keep it. I picked it up yesterday to read it and haven't put it down since. 


It's a book about Shakespeare's poetry, but it's also a book about poetry as a whole. 


It's told in typical Don style-- the best of his speaking style really. Completely casual, it's pretty much like having a conversation with him (But a little easier minus the brogue).  He talks about couplets being in the "country & western idiom" so much  that he'd like to hear "sung by Merle Haggard with a cod piece." Once you've gone through all 154 of them, he begins the commentary with "Last poem. Group hug!" 


And it truly is a modern, normal person's book on some of the most famous (And some over-looked) sonnets ever written. From the great Insomnia sonnet, #28 to the "young lovers: this poem is not for you" #118.


One such overlooked gem is probably my fave Shakespeare sonnet, #26.  He says this: 

There are few poems that handily articulate anything like 'common emotions'; WS's experience is too singular, and he's too weird a bloke. However, in a way he's done something even more remarkable: he's written a poem that, when you intone it, when you inhabit it, can make you physically feel like you're in love again. You remember? Love, in all its derangement, fatal hope, excessive caution, recklessness, sleeplessness, nausea, delirium, euphoria, terror, in all its strange superstitions and propitations... it all comes roaring back, and you feel, to quote CK Williams, 'the old heart stamping in its stall.'

Ah.
Do yourself a favor and buy this book. 

photo by David Sandison

bright green scotland

I know I've mentioned that all the Ramsays are cool, but this past week, I finally got to meet ALL of them, including super-activist, Adam. We bonded over a love of coffee and a train ride where I learned all the candidates in his website's "Dick of the Year" contest. It's pretty funny and today is the last day to vote. So I recommend you take a mosey on over to Bright Green Scotland and check it out. 


Personally, I'm a fan of the Italian president, Silvio Berlusconi, uniquely qualified to be dick of the year after purchasing a new (magnetic) one for a statue,  Fabrice Tourre (from Goldman Sachs-- who nicknamed himself the "Fabulous Fab" [gag]) and John Hemming, the LibDem MP who actually went and commented on his own Dick of the Year nomination. Wonderful. 


Even if you're not Green-minded, read and laugh at some of the ridiculous stuff politicians and various other powerful types have tried to pull this year. Don't forget: today is the last day to vote!

further mysteries of childhood: pinkie & the blue boy

One of my favorite memories of the part of my childhood when I lived with my mother is when the family heirloom Pinkie & Blue boy paintings came to live with us. To this day, I don't quote know their story of how we got them. How valuable they were (if at all.)


My mom knew pretty much nothing about art, but she thought these were the originals and the most amazing paintings ever. She also thought they had been painted by the same artist (they weren't). All I knew, is that I wanted to be Pinkie. Only once I was moved out, living with my dad, and had gotten the internet, did I start to research the paintings I had stared up at in our living room. 


While I doubt the paintings (inherited from my great-grandmother) were the cheap $30 print variety (Ethel was too much a snob for that kind of thing) I wonder what kind of reproduction they were for our family to assign so much value to them. And I wonder where they are now and if I'll ever see them again. 


I think about how we decide to assign value to things all the time. The gold standard. Art. Reproductions of art. I suppose it's a habit from growing up in a Buddhist organization whose name means "value creation." 


Maybe one day, I'll track them down and hang them in my house in Scotland.

murder mystery new years

Be prepared for awesomeness. My friends are fun. And the Hercule Poirot party was a huge success. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun on New Years. (It might have been the Dan Band/Mandalay Bay year.) We played fun crime games, danced to 30's tunes DJ'ed by yours truly, and Gretchen even wore a dress!

Huge thanks to Iona and Zaza for being such fabulous hostesses and friends. We lit the sky lantern covered in our wishes for 2011-- I wished for  a five figure book deal, a Broadway musical, and continued luck in meeting friends who just blow me away. Hope your 2011 is great already!

top 10 of '10- Fergie & Fife

Happy New Year's Eve here from Howe Street in Edinburgh! Here are my top 10 posts from this year. It's a combination of popularity and just my favorites. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for making 2010 great. Here's to 2011 being even better. Most days, I can't believe this is my life. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. 

1.My blog's mission statement.

2.My transition from a small dose person to...something else

3. The first time I went to Bamff

4. Leaving NYC really was an emotions blender

5. Cost of Living in NYC

6. Still feel this way about critics

7. Still loving the principle of yes and

8. ah, grand gestures

9. Brando

10. My great aunt, the editor of Vogue magazine

happy new year from bamff

It's basically impossible to be unhappy while looking at this. What a great welcome back to Scotland.  Fun parties in Edinburgh and sledging and this sunset here at Bamff. Big year-end post tomorrow before I head to my Hercule Poirot party! What should I wear?

Just the Right Amount of Wrong

I have a new favorite hotel in Las Vegas. Since I'm travelling today-- probably crammed in some teeny tiny seat-- I thought I'd share with you some more luxurious times. All the way back to Friday night, when me and some of my oldest friends in the world had a bang-up evening at The Cosmopolitan. In a town where almost everything-- the music, the people, even the air seems perennially paused in the late nineties-- it's nice to remember that, on the strip at least, we will always tear down what doesn't turn a profit and build something new ;)

Definitely dig the place. And the one thing that's convinced me there might be a purpose for big banks-- (good job Deutche Bank) who took on completion of the project after the initial builders were unable to follow through when the economy crashed. They scrapped all the original plans and came up with their own. The result is fun and eclectic. The cocktail waitresses outfits, the way they're allowed to show tattoos. Their slogan is "Just the right amount of wrong."


We grabbed drinks at the Chandelier Bar (gorge) and then had some delicious tapas and sangria at Jaleo. Our buddy Oliver, who runs the place, hooked us up with all the best eats. But the funnest part was catching up with my pals, their parents, siblings, and significant others. Enjoy the (niche) beauty that is my hometown at night.

digging through history

One of the things I love to do whenever I come back to Vegas is dig through all my boxes that my Dad keeps in his basement. I reread fiction I wrote when I was a little kid (truly, I was a weird child), remember all the cool books I bought and read, but can't schlep with me everywhere, and look at old photos of my friends when we were really awkward looking (some of us still are ;).


I especially love all the stuff from my summers spent with my grandparents in Georgia. My grandmother taught me how to quilt and is a prize-winning quilter. I don't know that I still remember how to quilt, but at one point, I was decent enough to help my grandmother make this amazing little dutch girl quilt when I was twelve. (That throw pillow, I  even handled all by myself.)


Having Tigerlily around makes me think about women and traditions passed down through the generations. I'm a bit too old to rock this pink quilt anymore, but I spruced up my family's antique bed (my favorite bed ever) with it this trip. I hope one day to pass it on to my daughter. And in the event that I don't have one, I'll give it to Tigerlily. Even if she isn't into pink, it's really warm and perfect for a little girl. 


I'm headed back to Scotland this evening-- and I'm very much looking forward to it-- but it's been nice digging through boxes and remembering for the past ten days. 

the return of bad lighting

Sometimes, it takes a catastrophic event to bring about something good. When Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was shut down due to a nasty fall by stunt man/Spidey double, Chris Tierney (get well soon!), it raised a lot of questions about safety in the theatre and what the heck is going on with that show in general. 


But on a happier note, the event prompted what appears to be an revival in blogging from one of my favorite all time people, Jon, and his blog, Bad Lighting. He'd been on some kind of hiatus while climbing the corporate ladder, but after being in the audience to witness the historic fall, he's back and blogging with a vengeance. (He even did an interview on NY1 with my homey, Frank DiLella.)


Jon is perhaps the most elitist art person I know (myself being a pretty big populist-- I think I knew of maybe 2 items on his best-of 2010 music list). And while I essentially moved away from NYC to ditch the Bravo Channel run clever/meanness that's consumed America, I can't help but love Jon's brand of snark. This is largely because he's an excellent and witty writer. I mean, he may have insulted my adored Keats biopic, Bright Star, by calling it a "coffee table book of a  movie," but even I had to agree he was right. (It just so happens I'm a big fan of coffee table books.)


And while I'll probably NEVER tire of stuffy British dramas, I laughed out loud when I read this about The King's Speech. 

Tis the season for self-serious historical biopics, and that's just what this one is. Deliberately paced (read: slow), handsomely photographed, and screaming it's importance at the top of it's lungs, one senses that the real climax the filmmakers are aiming for will occur on Oscar night. That might be a tad harsh, as the film does this brand of film as well as any other ... I'm just a bit sick of the stuffy British dramas.

Maybe it's just nice to check out a blog that isn't entirely stylish girls who post daily pictures of themselves in their outfits. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Read my Schu Schu and fall in love with snark all over again.

kelly reemtsen

I pretty much love nothing more than a good tradition turned on its ear. Particularly anything to do with the Stepford Wife/ 50's homemaker glamour meets vacuum type tradition. Any twisted homemaker thing really. (See: any of my fiction.) 


I think that's why I liked Anne Taintor so much (though I'm slowly losing interest there). It's hard not to spring to the next level when you see the awesome paintings of Kelly Reemtsen. 

go elf yourself

Merry Christmas!!

friendship is the christmas spirit

 Happy Christmas Eve! This has already been an eventful trip to round out an eventful year. The best times in my whole life, I think-- certainly the times that actually feel like the point of Christmas-- are these times with my friend-families. Sometimes, you just have to go help with an Elf photo shoot or be a witness on divorce papers. 


The mystic I saw this week said 2010 was a year for breaking apart. And indeed, I saw three friends through divorces. And I myself divorced from my spouse, New York. But I also saw that moving to another country made most of my best friendships stronger than ever. That I made so many new ones I now feel I could never live without. And there are these two new people-- Tigerlily & Luke. 


We can laugh (and yell if we need to) our way through anything. When deciding what to put on the Elf Christmas card, the original thought was something straight. But then Emily yells out, "Go Elf Yourself!" Would it be appropriate? Maybe not for any other family, but definitely for this one. Jimmy daddy put the issue to bed: "Do it. It's been that kind of year."